An official website of the European Union. See all European Institutions
Environment and climate change
2015 was a historic year for multilateralism and for sustainable development seeing the adoption in September of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the successful conclusion of the 21 Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21) with an agreement on a multilateral legal framework.
Around 8 million tons of plastic enter the sea every year... mostly ending up on our beaches... Collective action is needed! Throughout the months of September and October, leading to the Our Ocean Conference in Bali, several EU Delegations worldwide were actively cleaning seashores and riverbanks together with their families, and locals and organisations who worked jointly to make our ocean a better place for marine life... These efforts have now been marked on the European Atlas of the Seas’ last “Map of the Week” for 2018!
In late November, the European Union Delegation to Iceland planted the first of 600 birch trees that it will plant at the Friendship Forest, near Thingvellir, 40 minutes outside Reykjavik, the site of the first Icelandic parliament more than a thousand years ago.
The UN climate conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, concluded with the adoption of a clear rulebook to make the Paris Agreement on climate change work in practice across the world. The completion of the rulebook was the EU's top objective in these negotiations.
The EU and its Member States are taking part in the UN climate change conference (COP24) currently being held in Katowice, Poland until 14 December.
A #RaceToTheTop to #BeatPlasticPollution event co-hosted by the EU and the UN Environment Programme, took place on Tuesday, 25 September, during the UN General Assembly, encouraging governments around the world to follow the EU's lead and tackle this cross-border challenge. The EU is at the forefront of the global transition towards a more circular economy, transforming how products are designed, produced, used, and recycled in a way that is positive for our environment and boosts our industry's competitiveness.
A 30 second round up video of Climate, peace and security conference.
